Reinforced-concrete retaining-wall.



H. D. WHIPPLE. REINFORCED concams RETAINING WALL.

, APPLIOATION FILED SEPT.25,191-2. 1,05 ,211.

Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

WITNESSES I [NVE {VTOR To all whom it may concern:

' HENRY D. WHIPIPLE, or BRoo'KnYN, NEW YORK.

nnnvroncnn-concanrn RETAINING-warn rgcaaaai.

Beit known that I, HENRY D. WHIrrLn, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kingsand State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inReinforced-Concrete Retainlng-Walls, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inconcrete bulkheads or retainingwalls; the object being to pro-.

vide a sectional retaining wall formed of a plurality of piling units soconstructed that they can be readily driven into position or sunk by themethod now in'use, whereby an exceedingly strong and durable Wall willbe formed, and one which is especially adapted to be used for forming aprotection for levees, in order to form a sectional core for the leveeto prevent craw-fish from working transversely through the levee.

Another object of my invention is to pro- .Vide a sectional-reinforcingwall in which each of .the piling units is formed of a member having anobliquely cut-01f beveled penetrating end which can be readily driveninto position, and onewhich will clean its way as it is forced down intoposition against .the' adjacent unit whereby an exceedingly tight jointis formed between the units; said units being staggeredly arranged inorder to form lap-joints; the crevices ofwhich will soon become filledwith the earth or sand in which they are driven in order to form awater-tight wall.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a sectionalreinforced retaining wall, which can be used for forming jetties,breakwaters, sea walls, dams, and for various other purposes; eachsection of the wall constituting a piling unit with a reinforced ormetal penetrating point in order to prevent the concrete from chip-pingwhen brought into engagement with an obstruction.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will behereinafter set forth by the cordance with my invention, showing theapplication of the same 'to a levee; Fig. 2, is a longitudinalhorizontal section through the same, showing the manner of arranging thesect-ions in respect to each other in order to form lap-joints; Fig. 3,is an end eleva- Specification of Letters Patent. I Application filedSeptember 25, 19:12. Serial No'. 722,340.

-- I Patented Apr. 8,1913.

tion partly in section; Fig. 4, is a vertical longitudinal section of aportion of one of the piling units; Fig. 5,'is a detail perspective ofthe starter and one of the units, showing the manner of forcing the unitinto position; and Fig. '6, is a detail perspective view of the pointedends of a Series of pilin units.

Li e numerals of reference, refer to like parts in the several figuresof the drawings. In carrying out my invention, I employ a plurality ofright and left piling units 1 and 2, which are formed rectangular incross-section having a metal reinforcement 3 preferably formed ofelectrically welded wire mesh arranged, as clearly shown in Fig. 4.These units can be molded in an ordinary concrete mold, and can beformed of any size desired, and-I preferably construct the units in theform of a slabwith its lower end beveled and cut-off obliquely,

so as to form a tight ]",0iIlll; said penetratin'g point cleaning theabutting surfaces of the adjacent units asit; is forced downwardly bythe peculiar shape of'the penetrating point. l

In order to protect the pbnetrating point when working in rocky coutries, I provide a galvanized metal cap 5 having its lowerend cut-offobliquely and beveled conforming in shape to the penetrating point ofthe" piling unit, and preferably secured in position by transverserivets, as shown at 6.

These caps are preferably counter sunk in the units in order to obtain aflush face upon all sides, so that when the units are arranged inposition, as shown, they will fit snugly against each other. The greattrouble in forming concrete retaining walls of this nature, now in use,is in handling the material or the units constituting the retainingwall, and I have found that by constructing the units the shape shown,an exceedingly strong and durable retaining wall is formed and-one whichcan be constructed at .a very low cost as the units can I am aware thatI am not the first to provide a retaining wall of piling. units, but

the walls hereinbefore constructed have not proved successful sofar as Iam aware as in sinking the units it was impossible to maintain the closerelation of the units that is essential in forming a retaining wall,while with my construction of penetrating point, the units are forcedtogether as they are sunk into position.

In constructing a retaining wall of a plurality of units, ashereinbefore described, a starter l0 constructed substantially the sameas the units with the exception of a vertical shoulder 11, is first sunkinto position and a left unit is placed against the same and sunk intoposition, and then a right unit is placed upon the opposite side andsunk into position, this being carried out until the desired length ofwall is-formed;the right and left unitsbeing' staggeredly arranged sothat a lap-joint is formed, and it will be seen that as the unit isforced downwardly into the corner formed by a pair of the transverselysunk units, the chiseled point will clean the earth out of the corner asit is forced downwardly, allowing the units to be set tightly againsteach other; the peculiar shape of the point forcing the unit being sunktightly into the corner and against the adjacent units, which is theessential feature of my invention, as I have found that unless a pilingunit has a point which will force the unit in two directions, as it isforced into ground, it is impossible to construct a retaining wall of aplurality of units which will be practically water-tight, as the unitswill sheer oil to one side and will not maintain their close relation toeach other, as is necessary.

It will be seen that by arranging the units in a staggered manner, thepoint, for instance of the right unit, will be at the center of the leftunit, or vice versa, allowing the earth to be compressed or forced asideas the units are sunk into, position.

In order to strengthen the top oi: the units and to maintain the same intheir proper position, I provide a cap 7 formed of reinforced concretewhich is also formed of sections; the reinforcement employed being ofelectrically welded wire mesh, as shown at 8. The upper ends of thepiling units are preferably secured together by transverse v bolts 9,passing through registering openin s formed in the units as shown, andwhile I ave only shown a sin is cap unit, it is of course understoodthat t ese capsare to be formed of such a size that they can be handledreadily, or they can be molded over the units, audit is not essentialthat they be secured in position, as they will maintain their properpositions upon the piling units by their own weight and shape, as theystraddle the top of the units which is clearly shown in the perspectiveview and the horizontal section.

eeann From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I haveprovided a sectional reinforced concrete retainin wall, which. isformedof a plurality of right and left units staggeredly arranged in order toform lapjoints said units having penetrating points which force the unitas the same is being sunk in two directions, in order to forms compactwall when completed, which will have all of the advantages of a solidwall.

In the specification I have used the terms right and left units which isto define thatunits are used in which the penetrating points of one setof units are beveled-reverse to the bevel portion of the other set ofpenetrating points which is essential in the con-. struction of myretaining wall.

I claimi 1. A reinforced concrete retaining wall formed of a pluralityof staggeredly arranged pilin units having oppositely obliquel cut-obeveled penetrating points.

" 2. g reinforced concrete retaining wall formed of a plurality ofpiling units staggeredly arranged,v each unit having an obliquelycut-oil beveled penetrating point, the bevel of the points of the rightunits being reverse to the bevel of the points of the left units.

3. A. sectional reinforcedconcre'te retaining wall formed of a pluralityof piling units each unit having an obliquely cut-0' beveled penetratingpoint, said units being staggeredly arranged, and a cap arranged overthe top of said units.

4:. A piling unit for retaining walls, comprising a remforced concretemember substantially rectangular in cross section having a cap at itslower and formed of galvan ized metal cut-oil obliquely and beveled.

5. A sectional reinforced concrete retains ing wall having smooth sidefaces. said wall being formed of parallel rows of abutting piling unitsstaggeredly arranged, each pilmg unit having its lower end cutoffobliquely and beveled, and a cap arranged over said units and secured inpositionthereon.

6. A sectional reinforced concrete retaining wall formed of a pluralityof piling units staggeredly arranged side by side, each unit having apenetrating point cut oil obliquely and beveled for forcing the samelongitudinally and laterally in position against the adjacent units, thebevel of the points of one set of units being reverse to the bevel ofthe points of the other set of units. I

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY D. WHIPPLE. Witnesses:

Roennr Lowe, WILLIAM Mt'ILLER.

